


Four Times Rhys Spilled Coffee On Jack and the One Time Jack Returned the Favor

by SinclairTopside



Category: Borderlands
Genre: 4+1 Things, Fluff and Angst, M/M, These two are ruining me, swear words ahoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 10:09:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4175862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SinclairTopside/pseuds/SinclairTopside
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhys spills coffee, four times. Jack returns it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Four Times Rhys Spilled Coffee On Jack and the One Time Jack Returned the Favor

**Author's Note:**

> These two are ruining me. I just want them to violently make out. Anyway, here's another fic to sate my writer until the next three episodes come out.
> 
> kudos and comments are loved! <3

Spill no.1: Birthday Coffee

 

Rhys was so ecstatic that morning. It was his birthday and he was celebrating later that night with his two best friends. Twenty-six felt a lot like every other year since twenty-one, but he wasn't complaining. He got to have the time of his life with his friends and he worked for the greatest company ever. Perhaps it wasn't Hyperion itself but rather the man who ran it. Handsome Jack had been on Rhys' mind ever since he joined the company, plastering his walls in posters both issued and not. There was simply so much to admire about the man that Rhys could write a book and still need more paper. Where did he start? How about how absolutely handsome he was? An angled face with piercing mismatched eyes. A smirk that melted hearts (well it melted Rhys'). Then there was his warm skin color, mixing perfectly with his dark hair and dark clothes. He had a tattoo that Rhys so dearly wanted to know about, and he would bet money Jack was sporting a nice set of muscles under his shirt. Just thinking about Jack made the brunette sigh dreamily, like some sort of crushing boy.

“Rhys! We're gonna be late if you don't stop daydreaming!” Vaughn, his best friend was banging on the door to his room. Rhys jumped and gathered his things, papers in hand for later in the day. 

“I was not daydreaming!” He shouted, closing the door behind him and locking their apartment once they exited.

“Sure you weren't.” Vaughn rolled his eyes and grinned at a pouting Rhys. “Chill man, it's totally cool. Anyway, I'll meet you after work! We're gonna party hard!” Vaughn waved and headed down a different hallway, one leading to accounting. Before he headed to IT, Rhys had decided on a delicious frappe to brighten the day. He could get something fatty like that every once in awhile, it was his birthday after all. 

Rhys walked briskly through the halls, waving to Yvette as he passed requisitions. He didn't know what he had done to deserve such amazing friends, and he would never give them up. Rhys entered the company cafe and looked around. On Helios they had everything they needed. Since it was a space station sort of in, well space, everyone on base lived there. There were shops, restaurants, apartments, things that provided the necessity for living. It was a pretty nice gig. Rent was super cheap since they were working seven days a week, but hours were sort of random and some days they only worked for an hour or two. Rhys walked up to the counter and smiled at the woman. “I'd like a 16oz double chocolate chip frappe, with two shots please.” He smiled and paid, waiting for and gladly taking the delicious looking beverage. He took a sip and hummed with joy. This shit was dangerous, and the reason he didn't get it often. Rhys was a standard 5'11, lean with long limbs. If he had one of these every day, he wouldn't be lean anymore.

The brunette hummed happily and exited the cafe, turning the corner and smacking right into someone. Rhys yelped, watching his beautiful, perfect frappe spill onto someone's shoes and pants. Oh his baby! He would have mourned longer, but when he realized who he had run into he froze. Holy fucking shit. Holy fucking- oh fuck, Handsome Jack! Rhys had always wanted to meet the man but like this?! Come the fuck on! “I-I'm so sorry Mr. Handsome Jack, sir.” He fumbled to pick up his papers and took out some napkins from his bag. 

Jack, on the other hand was ready to strangle the idiot that spilled something on him, until he met the eyes of possibly the cutest fucking dude on the planet. He had the biggest eyes, one brown and the other with an echo eye implant, making it a bright blue. He had an arm implant as well, Hyperion made, which earned him points. He had delectable lips that Jack had the urge to devour. Along with that, a nice, long body he could see himself having a great deal of fun with. So instead of killing him, like he would have had he looked like anyone else, Jack responded by cupping his cheeks in his hands. 

“Now aren't you just the cutest, aren't ya cupcake?” He smirked when the kid panicked, blushing so red Jack was worried he might burst. It was easy to fluster people given who he was, but he'd never seen this kind of reaction before. “Holy shit kiddo, breathe.” He laughed and tugged the kid up, bending back down to grab the papers and hand them over. “Now, this ain't no thing. Still, I suppose you could make it up to me by buying me a coffee, oh, and telling me your name.” 

Rhys couldn't believe this. Handsome Jack...wasn't going to kill him, and wanted to know his name?! “I-I...um, it's Rhys! I'm Rhys, sir.” He went to pick up the cup but Jack waved it off.

“Janitor's job, let's go kiddo.” Rhys followed after Jack like a puppy, buying the man his coffee and buying his own again. Rhys grabbed the drinks and handed Jack his. “Thanks Rhsie. Now why don't we sit and chat?” Rhys nodded stiffly and sat down at a table. He couldn't believe this was happening. This was...oh god he was going to pass out. Jack snapped fingers in front of him and the brunette blinked, staring at the man. 

“S-Sorry sir, I'm...well, you're Handsome Jack.” He whispered like everyone didn't already know. Jack laughed and nodded.

“I am kid, I am. Now I was going to totally murder you for spilling coffee on me.” Rhys tensed. “But, you looked up at me with the most adorable eyes and I can't just kill that. Plus, I've never seen anyone with both a mechanical arm and an echo eye implant. So, here's what's going to happen, princess. After work tonight, I'm going to take you on a date. How's that sound?” Handsome Jack smirked at Rhys, who was stammering and blushing and oh he was passing out for real this time. Rhys slumped in his chair and Jack laughed. “I'm taking that as a yes. See you at seven, kiddo.” He left Rhys a note and left. Rhys startled awake a few minutes later, looking around for Jack but finding a note instead. He picked it up with shaky fingers and read it.  
“Princess, you're way too funny. You passed the fuck out! Anyway, I got some shit to do down on Pandora, so be ready by seven tonight.” A date? Holy shit. How did spilling coffee on the CEO of Hyperion end in a date? Rhys ran to tell Vaughn and Yvette, who both excused him from the celebration. They could do it tomorrow, because holy shit he was going on a date with Handsome Jack!

Except that date never happened. Rhys was working at his desk when at 2:04 PM there was an announcement that Handsome Jack had been killed on Pandora. 

 

Spill No.2: Do Posters Count?

 

Two months had gone by since Handsome Jack had been killed and the company was getting back on its feet. The had all been shaken by the sudden death of someone everyone on Helios admired. Rhys had taken it way harder than anyone around him, because there had been a possibility with the one man he had such a great admiration for. Jack had promised him a date but it had never come. Rhys shouldn't have left his desk, shouldn't have gone home and cried like a complete wreck, but he did. The huge “if” had hung in the air, what if they had gone on that date, what if they had found more than just a passing interest? Rhys would never know what would have happened. Vaughn was possibly greatest friend ever, because he didn't ask questions or talk like it was nothing. He had gotten off early and brought home pints of ice cream. Yvette dropped by as well, all three of them huddling together, watching shitty movies and stuffing their faces with ice cream. He couldn't ask for better friends. 

But Rhys knew he had to get over it, because nothing happened. It wasn't like they had gone on the date, not like it went past coffee that morning. It took a few days to recover, but afterwards Rhys had fallen into a lull. He did his work but he was still mourning, like most of those on Helios. Jack was going to do such amazing things and those stupid vault hunters had taken him from the world. They just didn't understand what great things Jack had planned. He certainly never planned on going down to that hellish planet, not in this lifetime. 

He woke with a groan, shutting off his alarm and rolling over in bed. He really didn't want to go to work today, but he supposed it was sort of a necessity if he wanted to keep his job. Rhys groaned and sat himself up, looking around at all the posters he had on his walls. Some he had taken down after the announcement, ripping them down and yelling at them, like Jack could hear. They were scattered on the floor, Rhys never really having the heart to throw them away like he intended. Even if Jack was dead, Rhys still admired him like no other. 

“Rhys! I made some breakfast!” Vaughn had gotten into this habit of making breakfast now and again, in an attempt to cheer him up, no doubt. While he was better in the sense that he didn't need pints of ice cream, Rhys still had bouts of despair, of plain sadness. 

“Coming!” He stood up and pulled on his usual attire, moving to tie his tie and head out of his room. “Vaughn, you don't have to keep making breakfast.” 

“Shush, and eat.” Vaughn had started cooking breakfast after the loss of Jack. Rhys couldn't bring himself to go to the cafe anymore, which is where his breakfast came from 90% of the time. The other 10% he skipped breakfast. Vaughn had started then, and Rhys knew there was nothing he could say to get the smaller male to stop. Vaughn was pretty stubborn when he needed to be. Rhys sat at the table and ate the eggs and toast, looking through the Hyperion paper and reading a few articles on this and that. By the time he finished he realized they were going to be late.

“Shit!” Vaughn look at the clock and echoed the curse. The two scrambled to finish up, Rhys grabbing his cup of coffee and drinking it as he hurried into his room. He had to grab the folders for work, put his shoes on and not die while doing it all at once. Rhys slipped into his shoes, grabbed the folders and was turning to leave when he slammed his hip into the drawers. “Motherfucker!” Rhys shouted, dropping his mug. The coffee spilled out onto one of the posters of Jack, the man's smiling face stained brown. Rhys grumbled and rubbed at his now bruising hip. He bent down and picked up the thankfully not broken mug. He grabbed used towel and pressed it into the rug around the poster, sucking the coffee out. As he did, his eyes wandered to the poster.

“It's like when we first met, huh?” He chuckled to the poster and shook his head. “Ah, Rhys you're talking crazy.” He dabbed the poster, cleaning the coffee up and tossing the towel back in the basket. Rhys stood with the poster and tacked it back up, stain and all. Grabbing his things he hurried out, following behind Vaughn. Just because Jack was gone physically, well, Rhys didn't think he needed to truly be gone.

 

Spill no.3: Can You Spill Coffee on a Hologram?

 

Okay, so some really crazy shit had happened. Vasquez had been a dick, Rhys and Vaughn stole his deal to get a vault key. Turns out vault key wasn't real, met Fiona and Sasha, put a crazy guy's id drive in his head, participated in a death rally looking for ten million dollars intended to be used to get vault key. Stupid old man broke into case and blew up, they had no money, found an old Atlas bunker, found Gortys and found out Jack was in his head. Yeah, a lot to take in within the first fucking twenty-four hours of landing on Pandora! This place was fucking nuts, it was stupid hot and everyone here was literally either insane or a criminal. Or both. 

So Jack wasn't dead, or well...he was technically? But he was somehow in Nakayama's drive and now he was in Rhys' head. His first words had been something about a vault and killing them, but once Rhys had yelped like a little girl, Jack had changed his tune. “Cupcake! I've been wondering when I'd see you again. Still cute as hell,” Jack had purred. Rhys ran up some stairs, followed by the blue, holographic Jack. He had to politely explain that Jack had died on Pandora, several months ago. That ended up with Jack attempting to strangle him, then changing his mind again because Rhys had a “pretty face.” 

“We gotta get you back onto Helios.” Rhys stated. “You're still here! If they can get you into a body then you'll be back!” He smiled. “If that happens...Hyperion can go back to being the corporation it was.” 

“Woah, wait, what the fuck is it now?”

“People fuck around, things aren't getting done like they used to when you were CEO.” Rhys sighed. “Shit just slowed the hell down. It's difficult to do work when your CEO gets killed.” 

“Well then we gotta fix that then, don't we cupcake? Then I'll take you on that date.” Jack smirked, but Rhys was wide eyed, shocked the man remembered something so small. “What, you think I'd forget that? I was really looking forward to that. You were, well you still are fucking adorable. I want to know everything about you, right down to those starry socks and clear obsession with me.” Rhys blushed and turned around.

“I-It isn't weird!” He shouted.

“Rhys, you losing your mind?” Fiona called up to him, but Rhys couldn't exactly tell her or the others that Handsome Jack was in his head. So he kept it quiet. Things went from awkwardly having his boss in his head to being downright embarrassing at times. Still, Rhys had fun with Jack there, knowing the man was still alive. Well, something was. The group had taken refuge in Scooters for the night, but Rhys wanted some air, and took to the roof. Air, and a space to talk to Jack without looking completely crazy. 

“Bet you thought I stood you up, huh?” Jack sat beside Rhys, his whole body flickering every now and then. Rhys shook his head. 

“It was at 2:04 in the afternoon. I was nervous, wondering what to wear, wondering if you were fucking with me. Then we heard the announcement. I...I don't know what was wrong with me, but it was like someone was just choking me. Don't laugh or anything, though I guess I can't stop you. I cried for days after that, just wondering what if this and what if that. Not to mention my biggest idol was taken far too early from us. You were killed by those shitty vault hunters, and I just...ugh, I hate them and I hate this whole planet.” Rhys sighed. He glanced at Jack who just stared at him with a smile playing on his lips. “What?”

“You're just cute, princess. Crying over me? That's just...well I suppose I never expected someone to do that in the event of my death. I'm the hero, sure, but people still think of me as the villain. But don't worry, when I'm back in charge I'll blow this whole planet to bits.” Jack smirked and Rhys felt conflicting emotions. He had met Fiona and Sasha here, but if they wanted off of Pandora, and really who didn't, then they could find a home maybe on Elpis, and then he wouldn't feel so bad about Pandora being blown the fuck up. 

“Hey Rhys!” The brunette jumped and looked down the ladder. Fiona was halfway up and handing him a cup of coffee. “Since you're so inclined to stay up, take the first watch, kay? I brought you coffee in case you need a kick.” Rhys took the mug and thanked her, watching her settle down with her sister. He turned back and stared at all of Hollow Point. 

“I mean who the fuck makes a town in a cave? This planet sucks.” He sipped the coffee and sighed. “This is no Helios coffee...” He mumbled.

“Eh? Like the coffee you spilled on me!” Jack laughed. “What's up with that place? Love their coffee.” 

“I...don't know.” Rhys shrugged. “After you died I just couldn't go there anymore. It's still there, but that's all I can say.” He drank more of the coffee and looked at Jack. “You promise to take me on that date?” He smiled at the man and got a fun response from Jack. The man's nose twitched and he rubbed it, looking away. “Are you...embarrassed?” 

“Eh? Shaddap kid!” Jack glared at the chuckling brunette. “You wanna laugh at me?” Rhys was about to comment when his whole vision was obscured by Jack's blue face. It wasn't a real kiss, not technically, but Jack's lips were still touching his own. Rhys gasped, cup dropping and hitting the roof, the liquid more or less spilling on the area Jack was in. Had the man been flesh, he'd be covered. Jack pulled away and laughed.

“You love spilling shit on me, don't you? And that was the promise. I don't break promises, Rhysie.” Jack smirked and watched the coffee drip down and into the gutter. “You ever gonna use your words and not your coffee?” 

Rhys blushed. “J-Just shut up!” Could he even spill coffee on a hologram?

 

Spill no.4: Hospital Coffee Sucks

 

Through shit that Rhys can't even remember, they made it off of Pandora and back on Helios. It took some explaining but he managed to get himself and Vaughn back in good graces by promising he had their dead CEO in his brain. The catch was the doctors were going to go in and retrieve Jack, and that was not guaranteed to leave him alive in the end. Vaughn was flabbergasted but Rhys shushed him. “If it's to get you and Jack back here, then it's all worth it.” Jack was less than thrilled, despite the fact that he would get his body back,

“Princess, you aren't going to die, so stop talking like you are.” Rhys sighed and followed the plethora of doctors and nurses. He was put into a gown and hooked up to an iv, then came the anesthesia. “Hey, Rhysie!” Jack's voice was getting quieter the more he went under. “I'll be here when you wake up.” 

Rhys didn't wake up for two weeks, his body undergoing more stress than both implants combined. They had to completely remove his echo eye implant to get to the data that contained Jack. The implant was only meant to go in once, and the process of replacing it was difficult and long. Rhys had come out of it alive, but was heavily sedated for those two weeks, his face bruised and swollen from the surgery. While he was out, Jack was waking up for the first time in forever. The doctors had implanted the drive into one of the bodies they had lined up, always prepared for crazy shit just like this. Jack was up and moving within the day he woke up and demanded several things. First, that people get the fuck to work. He was sick of hearing about how shitty it had been from Rhys. Second of all, he wanted the relocation of two Pandorans onto Elpis. Third, that Vaughn be given his job back and promoted to boss. Finally, his last was the most important of all.

“You make sure he lives.” Jack had gone to Rhys' room just as he had promised the younger male, but the doctor said he may or may not survive. “If he doesn't live through this then I'll have you all violently murdered.” He said it with a smile but they all knew this was no joke. Jack took a seat beside Rhys the entire two weeks, doing his work from there and hearing everything from Vaughn. The kid was good at listening in, and he was entirely grateful for what Jack had done. Two weeks without Rhys' stupid voice and cute, sleepy stare was driving Jack mad. He realized early on he was pretty into the kid, probably the second Rhys had looked up at him after spilling his cold ass coffee. “You gotta wake up, Princess.” Jack told Rhys this every day, and once the sedatives were removed, it all came down to Rhys.

Two long weeks and while Jack worked on some lame ass paperwork he saw from his peripheral movement in the bed. His head snapped towards Rhys, whose brows furrowed as mismatched, fucking gorgeous eyes opened. “What...fuck, what happened?” The brunette moaned, pain shooting throughout his entire body. His face had healed up but he was still sore as fuck, from god knew what. Rhys blinked, looking to his side and seeing Jack. Jack...who wasn't blue. “J-Jack? Is that you? Am I high?” He looked down at his hands and at the hospital room. He very well could be medicated and imagining this handsome as fuck man. But Jack laughed and stood up, moving closer to him and capturing his lips. Rhys gasped, not expecting that first thing upon waking up. Jack's lips were warm and Rhys fell into them, reaching out and gripping Jack's shirt weakly. He had no strength in his body, but right now he didn't care about anything but Jack's lips. The CEO pulled away, Rhys whining. 

“You had me scared there cupcake. You were out for two whole weeks. Then you open those beautiful eyes and shit, I couldn't help myself.” Jack smirked and ran his fingers through Rhys' messy brown hair. “No more, you have a lot of shit to work on.” Rhys groaned and with Jack's help managed to sit up.

“Paperwork? Okay, but I'll need something to write on.” Rhys couldn't understand why Jack was looking at him like he was crazy. “What?”

“Princess, that's not what I meant.” Jack chuckled. “I meant working on getting your strength back. You've been in bed for two weeks, fourteen days? Yeah, that's taking a lot out of you.” He patted Rhys and smirked. “Oh, and don't worry about shit. You're focus is getting better, and that's an order.” 

“But what about-”

“Vaugh? Those gals? Vaughn is head of accounting and likely coming down here now to assault you with affection. The girls have been relocated to Elpis, set up with a nice big home.” Jack smirked. “I knew what you were concerned about princess. Don't worry about it.” 

Rhys smiled and laid back down. He didn't need to worry about Vaughn, Fiona or Sasha. They were all safe, and the girls were of Pandora. He went back to sleep and when he woke he was, as Jack said, assaulted with affection from Vaughn. Yvette joined in and over the next week Rhys regained strength in his limbs with the help of his friends and a physical therapist. 

He was being discharged in a day and took the time to write down all the crap he needed to do once he got home. He had a cup of coffee in one hand and a pen in the other. It was quiet, nothing but the scribbling of the pencil. He certainly hadn't been expecting Jack to burst through the door. Rhys screamed and threw the cup, the coffee hitting Jack from the chest down. Rhys' eyes widened. “Oh fuck. Shit, I'm sorry! Jack, fuck!” He scrambled to get some tissues but Jack pushed him back, laughing. 

“Princess, you have got to learn to greet me better.” Jack took some of the tissues and wiped off what he could. 

“You aren't mad?” Rhys watched for change in Jack's eyes but the man simply shook his head.

“Nope. You got everything packed?” Rhys nodded, but why did Jack care? It's like the man could still read his mind, and stepped closer. “Now why do I care?” Jack kissed Rhys again, this time his fingers threading into the brown hair and deepening the kiss without hesitance. Rhys moaned softly, wrapping his arms around Jack's neck. Their lips melted together, the kiss full of passion, of...love? Rhys wasn't sure, but he knew for a fact this was the kind of kiss that would be followed by more. Jack pulled away and flicked Rhys on the forehead. The younger male yelped and rubbed the reddening mark.

“What the hell?” Rhys pouted and looked at the man. Jack simply shrugged.

“What can I say? I'm still me.” Jack grinned. “Oh, and I care because your shit is getting moved into my place.”

“What?!” Rhys' eyes were as wide as saucers, his mouth hanging open. 

“I told you princess, we're going on that date, and why not take the next step as well? I have lived inside of you already.” Jack chuckled at Rhys' blush.

“Jack.” Rhys' surprise melted into happiness and the brunette couldn't help but to kiss the man one more time.

 

Spill no.5: Jack's revenge(?)

 

Five years. Five years since all the chaos on Pandora with fake vault keys and not so dead CEOs. It had been crazy, but Rhys would do it all again to be where he was now. Jack had kept the promise and took Rhys on that date. It ended with them in bed, and Rhys becoming the happiest person ever. Another year and Jack was leaving Hyperion. “Shit's too much work. What say we move to Elpis?” And they did. Jack was a billionaire after all, and it didn't take much to find a nice house on Elpis. Rhys had barely managed to understand it all. He'd lived with Jack since getting out of the hospital but moving to another planet? It was all so fast, but Jack liked it that way. Rhys liked to think that was Jack's way of proposing, given he'd mumbled something about sickness and health before fucking Rhys in their new house. 

The following four years were something to behold. Jack built a gun business and became famous on Elpis, now owning shops all over the moon. He had partnered with a woman named Janey Springs who took care of most of the shops. Rhys still worked for Hyperion, but did all of his work from home. He sent it up to Helios and got his next assignments sent back. It was a nice turnout, being able to work while sprawled in pajamas and eating ice cream. 

Vaughn had come down as well, deciding to do something new, and pursue Fiona. Which somehow ended up working. Jack said it was the way he was strangely muscular. Anyway, Fiona and Vaughn were together for two years now and doing pretty well for themselves. Fiona managed one of Jack's stores, deciding against crime on Elpis, while Vaughn managed all the accounting for Jack's business. 

Sasha lived with her sister and Vaughn, doing her own thing mostly. She was back in school, learning engineering to better understand all the knowledge she had in her brain. Things were going really well for all of them, and Rhys couldn't be happier than he was now. 

Rhys hung off his and Jack's king sized bed and licked at his sucker, writing something down on a few papers. He sat up, gathered the papers and put them in the basket of things he would send to Helios the next day. “Done!” Stretching, he was greeted with the yapping from their pet skag. A runt, nearly dead when Rhys found her. Loyal as hell to them now. He had named her Pan, and returned her yap with a playful one of his own. He chased her around the house, smiling when he caught her and lifted her up. 

“Could you be anymore adorable?” Rhys jumped at Jack's voice and blushed. 

“Ah...so you saw that.” He put Pan down and blushed. “You could make like, I dunno, some sort of noise when you come in!”

“And miss things like this? Princess, please.” Jack chuckled and handed Rhys a cup of coffee. “Wherever I go I make millions,” the man stated with a self satisfied smile. 

Rhys rolled his eyes and smiled. “That you do.” He drank from his cup, yelping when Jack knocked it over and onto his pajamas. It was lukewarm and did little but surprise him. “Jack!” He glared at the man, who responded by laughing.

“Aw, come on princess! You spilled so much coffee on me these past years I can't even begin to count. Think of this as a little revenge.” Jack chuckled, watching Rhys go to their room. He followed and smirked, watching the brunette remove his clothes. “Well now, that's certainly a better result than I expected.” Jack walked towards Rhys and spun him around, kissing him roughly. Rhys wanted to be mad, wanted to push Jack away, but fuck the thing he did with his tongue! Rhys moaned and hugged Jack to him, nuzzling the man when they pulled away. “I think you might need a shower,” Jack chuckled.

“Revenge, hm?” Rhys murmured in response, not arguing with the man who led him towards the bathroom. Rhys couldn't be happier, and it had all started with coffee.


End file.
